Chris Clem, Esq. of law form Samples, Jennings, Ray & Clem, PLLC in Chattanooga, Tenn.A group of plumbers feuding with the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority say they aren’t doing any more WWTA business unless the body comes up with a better contract.
But the authority’s attorney says if plumbers didn’t sign contracts by Friday, the sewer board will just find a bigger company that will do the job.
The eight plumbers in the authority’s Private Service Lateral Program have been seeking more pay and looser time restrictions for their work for months. They say the WWTA board ignored their requests, and in June they addressed the Hamilton County Commission in hopes of applying some political pressure.
But although the County Commission created the WWTA, it has no power over the sewer authority. So the eight must decide by today whether they will take the WWTA contract as written or go without the government gig.
WWTA Executive Director Cleveland Grimes could not be reached to say how many plumbers had signed by Friday evening. But Chris Clem, WWTA’s attorney, says if the smaller plumbing companies don’t renew, the authority will just find companies that will.